Even though the Blue Jackets were leading by a goal, the circumstances at Nationwide Arena were growing bleak midway through the third period last night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, with one of the NHL’s best power plays, had a 59-second 4-on-3 man advantage with two of the Blue Jackets’ top penalty-kill players — Dalton Prout (interference) and Fedor Tyutin (tripping) — in the penalty box.

Dubinsky carried the puck the length of the ice, then wired a shot from the right faceoff dot at 12:27 of the third period that beat Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier and sent the Blue Jackets on their way to a 5-2 victory before a small but loud crowd of 13,390.

The Leafs cut their deficit to 3-2 almost three minutes after Dubinsky’s goal, but Ryan Johansen had an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining and Nick Foligno a tap-in with 6.3 seconds left.

“(Dubinsky’s goal) is obviously a huge goal,” coach Todd Richards said. “It was a huge plus for us. On the other end of it, sitting on the Toronto bench, I’m sure you’re on the 4-on-3 thinking you’re going to tie the game or, at worse, come out still down 2-1 with some time left to tie it. To give up a shorty right there is a tough one to recover from.”

It was the third short-handed goal in a 4-on-3 situation in Blue Jackets history. The last came during the 2005-06 season.

“Those are pretty rare,” Dubinsky said “They’re pretty special when you get one.”

Rookie Ryan Murray and Marian Gaborik also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have won three straight after a four-game losing streak. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.

This might have been the Blue Jackets’ most complete game this season. Certainly, it was the best they have skated, Richards said.

“The first and third periods, especially, I thought we did a really good job managing the puck, getting it behind them and forcing them into turnovers,” Richards said.

The Blue Jackets drew eight minor penalties on Toronto, five of them obstruction calls, and also won 44 of 67 (65.7 percent) faceoffs, including 13 of 17 (76.5 percent) by Dubinsky.

But Dubinsky’s biggest moment was the short-handed goal. In his end, Dubinsky gathered the puck to Bobrovsky’s right, curled around and saw nothing but open ice. Mark Letestu joined the rush with Dubinsky. Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf headed to the bench for a new stick after his broke, but his partner Cody Franson gave Dubinsky room to carry the puck.

“I just grabbed the puck and went,” Dubinsky said. “If somebody pressured me I was just to get it out (of the zone). Letestu did a good job drawing (attention). He gave me a good lane to shoot the puck.

“It’s hard to say if that’s our best game. We still have some stuff we can clean up. One of the marks of a good team is never being satisfied in what you’re doing. Everybody stepped up. It’s a huge two points. We’re back to .500. Now we have to keep piling on some wins at home and start climbing those standings.”

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